Sentar
Sentar describes two largely coextensive but distinct polities; the Canton of Sentar (within the Kingdom of Meragna) and the Principate of Sentar, both descendants of the maritime Republic of Sentar. The region is named for the Republic's founder, Robar Sentarion, who unified the rural diocese with the metropolis of Holy Donala to cast off the ongoing Telosine occupation of the territories that would become the republic. Governance Canton of Sentar The Canton of Sentar is the most populous of the ten cantons of the Kingdom of Meragna, and the location of its capital city, the Metropolitan City of Donala. Though elections to the Great Council of Meragna, the national ruling body, are only open to landowning men, the Canton of Sentar has universal suffrage for elections to the local Senate, which operates with a special autonomous status to facilitate its engagement with the Principate. In addition the Metropolitan City of Donala, though a part of the Canton of Sentar, operates on a level of autonomy comparable to a Canton itself. Principate of Sentar The Principate of Sentar is a sovereign state governed by the Capitum Primus, the administrative apparatus of the Soltiric Church, and a member of the Sentarion Commonwealth. The Princeps, the head of the church, is ex officio head of state in the Principate and all other Commonwealth members, however he appoints a Temporal Legate to manage their governance. The Principate is coextensive with the Canton, except for in the old merchant's quarter of Holy Donala (over which the Principate has no jurisdiction), which has special status dating back to republican times where the city's island districts were granted exemption from religious law. The Scholastic State of Vedessa, a microstate located on the coast of Sentar, is nominally independent of both the Principate and the Canton but is a member of the Sentarion Commonwealth (and so shares its head of state with the Principate). Relationship between the Canton and the Principate The relationship between the co-sovereigns of Sentar has tended to be fraught but has normalised over time with the establishment of a complex set informal conventions dividing authority between the two bodies; the Principate delegates out its tax collection duties to the Canton, which in turn donates a set sum to the Principate every year. Both have active standing armies (that of the Kingdom of Meragna in the case of the Canton) with equal right to free movement across the territory; however military bases and administrative buildings of one are provided extraterritoriality by the other, so as to prevent interference in one another's actions. For a time the two operated separate police forces and frequently clashed over arrests and detention for separate and incompatible laws, however the Principate dissolved its force in return for a supervisory role in the police force of the Canton. And so on. Over time the Principate's power has receded to mostly symbolic status within Sentar, while the Canton controls most practical functions, despite being legal equals. Geography Sentar is approximately coterminous with the Savua river valley, a densely populated low-lying region boxed in by steep slopes, opening onto the Rossorro Sea.